So Nordstrom was the place to be if you were in shoes. Word on the street was a good salesperson could make twice the amount a shoe store manager was making. Since I had 6 years under my belt at this point I decided to go over to the Nordstrom store in the Hillsdale Mall where I worked at Joyce Selby and talk to the manager there.

I must have been somewhat delusional but I thought being a store manager would be something they would jump all over. It was exactly the opposite. I meet this guy named Eric and he’s the “Buyer/Manager” of the department. I guess at Nordstrom their Buyers were in most of the departments and they also managed the sales people.

Crazy interview

This guy was running all over the place and I’m trying to keep up with him as we are talking. He tells me to come back the next day so we can sit down and talk. The next day comes and he’s not there, so I leave him a message. After a few days I follow up with him, “Oh yeah, sorry, I was off, I must have forgot”. Come over tomorrow at 2 and we can chat. So 2:00 comes before you know it and I go over to the department and it’s like the ground hog day movie, chasing him around again. He said he was interested in putting me on as a salesman but he would have to get back to me.

This went on for several weeks and finally I hit the F%@# it level. Seriously? The place to be… didn’t seem all that, at least for me. Little did I know that Nordstrom would one day change my whole life and my career.

Naturalizer owner

I was having lunch with my favorite rep at the time, Ray and he informs me of this independent owner that he knows that was looking for a store manager for his Los Altos location. I trusted Ray so I gave “Jim” a call. He was a great guy to talk to on the phone and we set something up for my next day off.

Why you should Always keep your options open

You never know what will happen. This applies to future options as well. Things change and so do circumstances.